Throughout the Middle Ages, the Netherlands consisted of many separate feudal entities, which were eventually united, under Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), with the rest of the "Low Countries " (present-day Belgium and Luxembourg) as part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1815, the northern and southern Netherlands - today's Netherlands and Belgium - were combined to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Willem Frederik became KingWilliam I. This marked the introduction of the Dutch hereditary monarchy.

Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean became equal partners with the Netherlands in 1954 under the Charter for the Kingdom, which made the Netherlands responsible for foreign affairs and defence on behalf of its former colonies.

Netherlands, also known unofficially as Holland, constitutional monarchy of northwestern Europe, bordered on the north and west by the North Sea, on the east by Germany, and on the south by Belgium.

The major rivers of the Netherlands are the Rhine, flowing from Germany, and its several arms, such as the Waal and Lek rivers; and the Maas (a branch of the Meuse) and the Schelde, flowing from Belgium.

The Netherlands is active in international efforts to clean the waters of the Rhine River, and some citizens seek to prevent land reclamation and the building of dikes in an effort to preserve natural environments.

The Netherlands and the surrounding area, known as the Low Countries, passed from the control of the dukes of Bourgogne during the early 16th century into the hands of the Habsburg emperor Charles V, who held territories throughout Europe.

The Netherlands is situated in the lowlands of Northwest Europe between 50°45' and 53°52' latitude and 3°21' and 7°13' longitude.

Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and Surinam, chiefly as the language of government and education.

www.thehollandring.com /toen-nu.shtml (3083 words)

History of The Netherlands(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-15)

Julius Caesar found the region which is now the Netherlands inhabited by Germanic tribes in the first century B.C. The western portion was inhabited by the Batavians and became part of a Roman province; the eastern portion was inhabited by the Frisians.

Following Napoleon's defeat in 1813, the Netherlands and Belgium became the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" under King Willem I, son of Willem V of Orange.

The five islands of the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, Bonaire, Saba, St. Eustatius, and a part of St. Maarten) and Aruba are integral parts of the Netherlands realm but enjoy a large degree of autonomy.

www.historyofnations.net /europe/netherlands.html (515 words)

History_of_the_Netherlands - The real meaning from Timesharetalk wikipedia(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-15)

The Netherlands have been inhabited since the last ice age; the oldest remnants that have been found are a hundred thousand years old.

The Netherlands also sheltered many famous refugees, including FlemishProtestants; Portuguese and German Jews; French Protestants (Huguenots); the founder of modern philosophy, Descartes; and the Pilgrim Fathers, who were symbols for the US tradition of republicanism.

The French occupation of the Netherlands ended in 1813 after Napoleon was defeated, a defeat in which William VI of Orange played a prominent role.

The great Jewish presence in the Netherlands began and ended in tragedy: The first Jews came after being expelled from Spain, and the huge community was decimated 350 years later by the Holocaust.

The history of Jews in the Netherlands was different than their experience in any other country, and, while today's Jewish community is only a fraction of what it once was, it is rapidly becoming more in touch with the eras that preceded it.

A significant portion of the surviving literature and poetry from that era is rife with anti-Semitic references, and the contemporary Christian legends emphasize the perfidy of the Jews, and their role in the death of Jesus.

The Netherlands is a densely populated country with famous cities like Amsterdam known for the Rijksmuseum (the national museum), canals, the castle and its cosy pubs.

The recorded history of the Netherlands starts with the Roman invasion halfway the first century A.D. but it had its heydays in the 17th century when it disputed hegemony of the Seven Seas with the English and the Spanish empires.

The Netherlands (also popularly called Holland in English, in Dutch Nederland) is a Benelux country in Western Europe, facing onto the North Sea and the United Kingdom and bordered on land by Germany and Belgium.

The riverine nature of the Netherland is revealed in the names of the major cities, Rotterdam, the dam on the Rot River; Amsterdam, the dam on the Amster River.

The Netherlands came to be dominated by Spain because the heir to the Habsburg realm in the Low Countries, Philipp I ("the Handsome") married the heiress to the throne of Spain, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.

For a period of time in the Renaissance the Netherlands was the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world.

The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen), previously known as the Netherlands West Indies, are part of the Lesser Antilles and consist of two groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea that form an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (none of the other Antilles use this term in their name).

The island of Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986, when it was granted a "status aparte", and became a separate part of the kingdom.

Head of state is the ruling monarch of the Netherlands, who is represented in the Netherlands Antilles by a governor.

Sources for Women's History at the International Institute of SocialHistory An overview of the primary sources for women's and gender history in the archival and manuscript collections of the IISH.

Centre for Gender and Diversity The Centre was established at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, to provide an institutional basis for the scattered tuition and research activities in the field of Women Studies at the various faculties.

VGN Commissie Vrouwen- en Gendergeschiedenis Webpage of the Association of History Teachers in the Netherlands - Comittee for Women and Gender History.

While the discontents of the Austrian Netherlands on the subject of the treaty of the Barrier were in debate, the quadruple alliance was formed between Holland, England, France and the emperor, for reciprocal aid against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

George II., at the head of his army, gained the victory of Dettingen, in support of her quarrel, in 1743; the states-general having contributed twenty thousand men and a large subsidy to her aid.

Various decrees were issued in consequence; and after the mockery of a public choice, hurried on in several of the towns by hired Jacobins and well-paid patriots, the incorporation of the Austrian Netherlands with the French republic was formally pronounced.

www.oldandsold.com /articles36/netherlands-21.shtml (4258 words)

Netherlands(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-15)

In the 1st century BC, the Romans defeated the tribes that lived in the area we now know as The Netherlands, and they ruled it for 250 years.

The French invaded the Netherlands and took control of it.

During the 1st World War, The Netherlands was neutral, which meant it took neither side.

www.kidcyber.com.au /topics/Netherhistory.htm (249 words)

A short history of the Netherlands Antilles(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-15)

In 1634 the Netherlands conquer the Islands of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire, followed by other islands in the region, that together become part of the Dutch West Indies.

Limited self-government is introduced in 1936 and the colony is renamed Netherlands Antilles in 1948.

In 1954 the Netherlands Antilles become a seperate country inside the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica notes, "The name Holland (from Houtland, or Wooded Land) was originally given to one of the medieval cores of what later became the modern state and is still used for 2 of its 12 provinces (Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland).

The irregular outline of The Netherlands, not unlike a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, encloses some 16,164 square miles (41,864 square kilometres) of mostly flat land, which lies between the North Sea on the north and west, Germany on the east, and Belgium on the south.

In this chapter the major foreign groups in the Netherlands, their migration history, their labour market position and the related social policies are described.

Participation of minorities (both newcomers and more settled individuals and their children) in the labour market is encouraged in the first instance by an overall labour market policy targeted at the lower end of the market.

The central government is one of the larger employers in the Netherlands.